


The Freakiest Friday

by antlurrs



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 19:46:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12614084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antlurrs/pseuds/antlurrs
Summary: Yugi just wants to eat his god damn burger already! What's with the dog with glasses, though?





	The Freakiest Friday

**Author's Note:**

> Crossover fic featuring my two main fandoms. This was written a LONG time ago, but I never posted it here! 
> 
> Notes: Mystery talks. His text is italic with quotes. Atem speaking is simply italic. Unfortunately, Vivi and Arthur cannot hear or see him, but that doesn't pose a problem with the way things flow, I think.

“…Yugi, don’t look now, but that blue girl is back.”

Your burger is halfway to your mouth when Joey makes the remark. Stomach rumbling in unhappy protest, you lower the delicious sandwich back to your plate, frowning.

“Again?” you mutter to nobody in particular. You don’t dare turn around yet, hoping Joey is just pulling your leg. Honestly, all you wanna do is eat your burger in peace!

“Yeah,” he continues, squinting and craning his neck to look behind you. “She’s been following us since our duel this morning, didn’t you see her?”

“No,” you say, fighting the urge to turn around, “I didn’t… all I could think about was food! We’ve been up since the crack of dawn and I was hungry, I wasn’t really paying attention--”

“Dude,” he laughs, and leans forward to poke you in the ribs. It earns a small yelp and a half-hearted swat from you, but you’re smiling all the same. Your stomach gurgles loudly and reminds you to _pick up your burger and eat, stupid_ , but once again, as you’re about to take a bite, Joey’s expression changes and his eyes shift over your shoulder.

“She’s got a weird-ass dog with her,” he murmurs, and you roll your eyes, finally biting into the burger. You _almost_ moan in satisfaction because _damn_ , the Space Burger cooks know how to make a good cheeseburger--

“Holy shit, Yugi. The dog has _glasses_.”

“Whagh?” you inquire, mouth full of food. You feel a small dribble of ketchup on the corner of your mouth.

 _Partner. For goodness’ sake, use a napkin_.

The amused voice of the pharaoh ebbs gently through your mind, and you grab for a napkin and dab your face clean as Joey tries to get a better look at the dog.

“I’m freaking serious, the dog has these little yellow glasses and… and a fuckin’ _hairdo_ , you _have_ to see this--”

You swallow the mouthful of food and go to pick up a fry.

“Weird dogs later. Food now,” you deadpan. The pharaoh’s laughter rings in your ears and Joey shakes his head.

“They’re stalking us,” he says, waving his own fry at you. You’re tempted to lean forward and bite half of it off as it passes close to your face, but he sees your eyes following it and pulls back to pop it into his mouth. With another roll of your eyes, you lift your burger.

“Holy shit, there’s a big purple guy!”

“ _Jhoeghy!_ ” you warble around the food in your mouth. Darn it, you just wanna eat!

Joey shoves a clean napkin into your face. “Clean that mug, you gotta see these people, man. How did you miss them in the street this morning?”

“I dunno, my mind was kinda preoccupied,” you grumble, wiping your face. You cast a longing look at your burger and finally turn around.

The front of Space Burger is filling up for the lunch rush. There are people milling about and sitting in booths, chatting and having a good time. A few people notice you and Joey and whisper to their friends, pointing and gesturing in excitement. And yet…

Nowhere do you see a weird dog with glasses.

“I don’t see anything, Joey,” you whine, turning back to face him, “Can I please eat my burger now? Before my stomach takes a bite out of my spine?”

Joey is the one to roll his eyes this time. “You watch. That chick and her freaky anime dog and her big purple body guard guy are gonna come over here and kidnap you with half a burger shoved into your face-- _Look, there she is again!_ ” He breaks off in a hurried whisper, lightly slapping you on the shoulder in an attempt to turn you around.

With a huff, you oblige and turn around, scanning the diner, and you catch a flash of bright blue hair and pink glasses in one of the tall booths before it vanishes. Was that a wig?!

_You and I have no room to think such a thing, Partner._

…Well, he has a point, you suppose.

“Didja see her?!” Joey hisses, “Tell me you saw her. You had to. It’s like she jumped out of a pastel blue barrel of paint. How you missed ‘er in the street this morning is totally beyond me.”

You don’t reply, watching the booth. There’s movement near the bottom and you catch the snout of a dog poking out of the footrest. Slowly, the dog emerges, glasses, spiked hair and all, and as soon as it catches your eyes it disappears again.

You swear you saw the dog’s eyes widen when it realized you were looking at it.

The pharaoh senses your shock and materializes next to you, opting to stand next to the booth instead of sitting on the seat.

 _That must have been the oddest looking dog I have ever seen_ , he remarks, frowning. _Are you sure you want to focus more on your food right now?_

“Do I have a choice?” you grouch, and you receive a chuckle in return. Joey stares at you before comprehension blooms on his face.

“Well, what does the pharaoh think?” he asks, “I mean, come on, Battle City is over, but that doesn’t mean the weirdness is gonna stop anytime soon…”

_I have to agree with Joey. Please be careful, Yugi._

“This is why we can’t have nice things, you two,” you say dryly, earning a snicker from Joey. “I suppose you want to see what they want?”

“Well yeah. I mean, they followed us for three blocks _and_ they’re spyin’ on us. Clearly they want something.”

_It had better not be the God Cards they’re after, or things will get ugly._

“I don’t think they’re duelists, Other Me… Joey, quit staring!”

He’s craning his neck again. “Purple guy has a pompadour,” he snorts, “What year is it? Hell, he’s even color coordinated too, look…”

Grudgingly, you turn again and see the top of a purple poof over the back of the seat. Before you have a chance to turn around again, the poof moves sideways--

Unbidden, your jaw drops as the biggest, buffest guy you’ve ever seen leans out of the booth to get a look at you. Purple hair, purple ascot, purple vest…

“The fucker is wearing sunglasses indoors,” Joey scoffs, “What gives? Too cool to take ‘em off? That’s so weird.”

 _Partner, something is strange here,_ the pharaoh warns, glaring in Purple Guy’s direction, _Be on your guard_.

You open your mouth to reply, but before you can, you catch Purple Guy smiling in your direction. He disappears back into the booth.

“Maybe… they’re reporters?” you offer tentatively, trying to ease the pharaoh’s nerves, “I mean, Battle City just ended, and Mokuba warned me about them wanting interviews and stuff…”

“Nah, reporters don’t look _that_ fuckin’ wonky. Blueberry and Boysenberry are freaking color coordinated, and the dog has a hairdo and glasses.”

_And also seems to be sentient._

“Well, we’ve seen weirder, haven’t we?” you plead. For the love of the gods, you just want to eat, you are _starving_.

Joey gives you a _look_. “They’ve been tailing us, don’t you wanna know what they’re after? I sure do,” he says darkly, and you hear him crack his knuckles under the table.

With a weary sigh, you give him a gentle nudge under the table with your foot.

“Joey, I _really_ don’t think--”

“’S’CUSE ME~!”

Your brain screeches to a halt as both you and the pharaoh startle violently. Joey lets out his own surprised squeal, earning quite a few stares from the other patrons.

It’s the blue girl. You’re not sure how you missed her _yet again_ given how bright her outfit is, but she somehow scared the pants off all _three_ of you by popping up seemingly out of nowhere. She’s half looming above you, half bouncing on the balls of her feet, her blue eyes wide and _sparkling_ behind her pink glasses.

“Hi, you’re Yugi, right?” she asks somewhat breathlessly, “Like, _the_ Yugi Mutou, Battle City Champion, holder of the Egyptian God Cards, all that good stuff?”

You stare at her dumbly, noting with muted humor that she’s standing _inside_ the pharaoh’s apparition. He dodges to the side, eyes wide.

Joey finds his voice before you do, though he is still clutching the front of his shirt, right over his heart. “Who wants ta know?!”

If possible, she bounces even harder now, from foot to foot.

“I do, I do! Well, me and my boyfriend and our friend and our dog want to know, I mean, Arthur is kind of a ‘fraidy cat so we might not see him for a few minutes and Mystery saw you a few minutes ago and Lewis wants to talk to your other self and I _MPH-?!_ ”

A giant, dark hand promptly clamps itself over her face, shutting her up. It’s the big purple guy who appears this time, chuckling as she wriggles in his grip.

“Please excuse Vivi, gentlemen,” he says, and then yelps and pulls his hand away from her face, “I… Vivi, _did you just-?!_ ”

“I told you I’d lick you if you did that again, you giant ectobooger,” she sings as he wipes his hand on his jeans. She turns back to you and her bouncing continues.

“Anyways, hi, my name is Vivi, and this is my boyfriend Lewis! Oh, and this is my dog, Mystery. Say hi!”

The three of you are too stunned to say anything as the weird dog--Mystery, apparently named--jumps into the booth next to Joey and holds his paw out.

“ _How do you do?_ ”

Joey moves into your space so fast you almost fall out the side of the booth. He presses himself against your side with wide eyes and grips your jacket tightly.

“What the fuck?”

Mystery grins, taking a fry from Joey’s abandoned plate and gobbling it up.

“ _Mm, yes. What the fuck indeed. No ketchup? You heathen_ ,” he remarks, licking his chops.

“Mystery, be nice,” Purple guy--no, Lewis--chides. “And don’t eat food that isn’t yours!”

“He can have it,” Joey squawks, “Just stay away from me, demon!”

It’s your turn to scold. “ _Joey!_ That’s not nice, don’t call him a demon!”

Mystery’s eyes glint mischievously and he eats another fry.

Vivi is not put off by Joey’s attitude at all; in fact, she seems to be even happier.

“Not too comfy with paranormal stuff, is he?” she says to you with a smile, “Well, good! He can be buddies with Arthur once he works up the courage to come inside. As I said, he’s a ‘fraidy cat and doesn’t do so well with ghost stuff and whatnot, so he stayed outside--”

“Paranormal stuff?” you interject, glancing at the pharaoh. He’s standing off to the side now, staring intensely at Lewis. Stranger still, Lewis’ head is turned towards the pharaoh as if he were looking back.

Vivi nods so fast her glasses slide down her nose, and she takes a seat in Joey’s vacated spot.

“Paranormal stuff!” she reiterates with cheer, reaching into her shoulder bag, “You know, like… ghosts! Apparitions, poltergeists, unexplained voices or noises, EVPs--”

“So you’re _not_ reporters?”

“Heck no, reporting stuff that everyone can see is boring! We go after the unseen. The creepy, the unexplained, the stuff that far too many people seem to ignore--”

To punctuate her statement, she unearths a veritable _tome_ from her bag and drops it with a _thud_ onto the table. The worn leather binding is crisscrossed with faded gold runes and symbols of foreign nature.

Joey, having become increasingly pale through the last few minutes, balks and almost shoves you out of the booth.

“I’m… I’m goin’ outside, Yugi,” he says faintly, “I’ve had enough of this freaky ghost shit for one tournament, man. I need a break.”

Lewis makes an odd sort of snorting laugh, but moves out of the way so you can let Joey out of the booth.

“It’s alright, Joey,” you say with an apologetic smile, “I’ll let you know when we’re done talking about this stuff, okay? Go next door to the ice cream parlor and wait for me.”

“You got it. And if anything happens, make a scene and I’ll come running, aight?”

You grin in response. “Right.”

With that, he makes his way out of the diner in quick strides, not looking behind him once.

Well. Now it’s just you and these three… well, two, people. And a dog. A dog wearing glasses.

 _We’ve been in some strange situations_ , the pharaoh muses, _But I’m certain this is one of the strangest…_

“Um… Vivi, was it?” you begin, and Vivi looks up from the book.

“Yes, that’s me!” she chirps brightly, “What’s up?”

You blink at her. “…err…”

Lewis nudges her, grinning. “Babe, I’m pretty sure he’s waiting for you to explain yourself.”

Vivi stares at you for a half second before slapping herself in the forehead. Beside her, Mystery wheezes a little laugh.

“That’s right, that’s right! Sorry, I got a little lost here for a moment… what was I talking about?”

“ _Ghosts, Vivi. Obviously, I mean… that’s all you ever talk about--_ ”

“You hush your furry face, you little--”

You and the pharaoh exchange amused glances as you watch this girl literally have a small slap fight with her _dog_. Lewis is quite used to this, as he just sits and watches, idly tapping his fingers on the table.

Strangely, you feel no vibration from the action and hear no audible noise from his fingers on the table.

“Okay, _anyways_ , as I was gonna explain…” Vivi huffs, facing you again. “We’re paranormal investigators! We’ve been all around the world and we’ve investigated hundreds of cases, ranging from mundane things like noise phenomena to outright poltergeist activity!” she gushes, thumbing through her book and showing you pictures, “We’ve been to abandoned hospitals and houses, hotels and caves… compiling data and developing new tools to research the world of spirits. One of us even got possessed once, and… we lost someone. Sort of.”

“…sort of?” you gulp. The pharaoh settles next to you in the booth, expression somber. “So, there’s you, Lewis, and your guy outside, uh… Arthur. So there was another?”

Vivi’s smile changes ever so slightly. “No. It’s still the three of us.”

Your eyebrows disappear under your bangs. “I… wait, what?”

“It’s how Arthur lost his arm… oh, you haven’t seen him, have you?” she continues, “He’s got a robotic prosthetic arm. He lost it in the possession incident.”

That’s really wild, and you’re not sure what to make of it. From the look on the pharaoh’s face, he’s not sure either, so at least you aren’t alone in that.

“I… I don’t mean to be rude, b-but--”

“You want to know why she jumped you with all this paranormal crap,” Lewis laughs, and you nod dumbly.

“Yeah, I… what’s any of this got to do with me? I mean… I’m a duelist. I play card games,” you laugh awkwardly, “There’s… there’s really nothing paranormal…”

You know where this is heading. They’re going to ask about the puzzle. You’ve hidden the presence of the pharaoh well for as long as you’ve known about him… or, at least, you thought you did.

 _I guess it was only a matter of time before someone schooled in the paranormal caught on to what’s going on,_ you think through your mind link, and the pharaoh nods in agreement.

“ _Nothing paranormal?_ ” Mystery pipes up, and you jump. Dammit, you forgot about the little guy.

“W-well… no? I mean… what’s this really got to do with me?”

Vivi’s smile widens. “See, we’ve seen some pretty weird stuff, but now we’re interested in an entirely new subject, one that we’ve never heard of… one that would help us to help spirits in need… and the reason we’ve come to Domino is because you are the one person that can help us with it.”

Okay, that isn’t at all what you were expecting.

“And… that would be?” you ask nervously, taking a sip of your cola.

Her eyes gleam. “Consensual possession.”

You damn near choke on your cola as Lewis faces you full on, leans forward, and lowers his shades to stare into your eyes. His sclera is _black_ , the iris a bright fiery pink. You are allowed a few more seconds to gawk before he lifts the shades over them again with an easy smile.

“See… we saw your duel this morning with your friend Joey,” he explains, “And… I couldn’t help but notice that there were two of you.”

You are officially freaking out. How? How do they know? What the hell is with his eyes?!

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you squeak, and Lewis shakes his head.

“Yugi… spirits can see other spirits, y’know. We’ve learned that on our travels,” he says softly.

It’s like a bucket of ice water was dumped over your head. Realization grips both you and the pharaoh, and not bothering to mask it, you both stare at each other, dumbfounded.

“V… Vivi, when… when you said… you lost someone, but only _sort of_ …” you trail off, voice a choked whisper.

Vivi continues to smile as bright as ever.

“That’s right,” she says, “The reason my boyfriend can see your “other self” is because… he, too, is as dead as a doornail!”

You are now gaping along with the pharaoh.

“You’re… you’re a ghost,” you say stupidly, and Lewis laughs good naturedly.

“I sure am.”

“A ghost investigating… other ghosts? Wait… is that why you guys wanted to meet me and…?”

“That’s right. It’s not ever day you hear about other ghosts that aren’t repeating energies or leftover memories,” Lewis says, “Well… it’s not like anyone _told_ us. We figured it out on our own, and we came to Domino to meet you.”

“So… you came to investigate us, I guess?”

Vivi nods, hair bouncing. “I’d love to! I mean… would you let us in on stuff?” she asks, voice hushed.

She looks so darn _excited_. You feel guilty having to burst her bubble.

“I’m not gonna lie, there’s a lot of weird stuff happening with me, but I don’t exactly want this to go public, you know?” you say, picking at your cold fries, eyes downcast. “This is kind of a weird, long, convoluted string of happenings and… it’s a little hard to explain. I hope you understand.”

“No, no, I totally understand! Well, see, we do investigate cases…” she says, waving her hands, “And I’m not one to pass up an investigation, especially in _your_ case… but an investigation isn’t what we’re after just yet. That can wait until we know each other better and when you’re more comfortable. What we _really_ need is your help.”

A light bulb goes off. “That’s right, you said you needed help with a new subject… oh, right, the possession thing,” you say, “Uh… well, could you explain what you’re after, first? Like, motive wise? I… we’ve been through a lot, and we almost lost each other a few times… I’d rather not go through that again.”

You kind of don’t want to open up that can of worms. Too many scares, too many close calls. Battle City is over, you don’t want _any more_ freaky Egyptian prophecies or battles. You’d rather relax for a while and spend some time with your other self not having to worry about the next time you both might lose one another.

“Don’t worry, Yugi,” Lewis says, voice gentle, “We’re not after your puzzle, and we’re not out to hurt anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact. Vivi… should I tell him the cave story, or should you?”

“Ooooh, Cave Story, that game is fun!”

“ _Babe_.”

“Right, sorry,” she smiles, bumping shoulders with him. You relax a little as she clears her throat and clasps her hands in front of her on the table. “Okay, let me start from the top. As we’ve stated before… there was an accident. Arthur lost his arm, Lewis lost his life. This all happened because we went to investigate disappearances at a cave back home.”

_Arthur actually went with you?_

“Yeah, surprisingly,” Lewis snorts, “He hates paranormal things, but we sort of… guilted him into it. After all, how would we have gotten home if the van broke down in the middle of nowhere? Plus, he’s the tech guy anyways…”

“But we didn’t have any fancy equipment with us that time,” Vivi continues, “Which… might have helped--”

“Against a spirit that strong? Nah, babe, that thing grabbed Arthur and the rest is history.”

Without thinking about it, you grip the puzzle tightly. Under the table, you feel the pharaoh rest his hand over yours.

“What… what happened?” you ask hoarsely. You don’t really want the grisly details, but…

“We split up.”

_I can recall many, many Scooby Doo episodes from my partner’s memory that clearly show that is a horrid idea._

“No shit,” Lewis snorts, but he’s grinning. “We were dumb kids--hell, we’re _still_ dumb kids, even with a purpose, but still--and we didn’t know what we were dealing with. We just thought people were playing pranks, y’know?”

“Mystery and I took the low path. Lew and Arthur went up,” Vivi says. Her voice is dropping in volume. “They ended up at a sheer cliff.”

Your heart drops like a stone and the pharaoh’s hand clenches almost painfully atop yours.

“I was the fearless leader, big dumb idiot with no sense of self preservation…” Lewis laughs humorlessly this time. “I leaned over the cliff to get a look, and when I turned back around…”

“It used Arthur’s body,” Vivi whispers. You feel sadness creeping into your heart from the pharaoh’s side as she wipes at her eyes. “Whatever that thing was, it took control of him… he tried to fight it off, but it was too strong. When Lewis turned to face him, the thing poured its energy into Arthur’s arm and shoved Lewis from the cliff.”

“That ended about as well as you’d expect,” Lewis says, “Can’t say I ever wanna go skydiving now.”

You reach for your cola with your free hand, trying to hide the shaking in your fingers. You were definitely not expecting things to get so heavy today, but here you are.

 _So, it possessed him but focused on his arm to complete its task_ , the pharaoh says, _I’m assuming this is the arm he loses in the story._

“That’s the one. Mystery left Vivi at the bottom of the cliff before this happened. He felt something bad up there with us, so he followed just in time to witness me getting pushed… um.”

Lewis breaks off, hesitating. Vivi also seems uncomfortable, biting her lip. You wait, sipping your cola nervously.

“Alrighty, listen, Yugi… y’know how Mystery can talk, right? That’s not all he can do,” Vivi begins again, drumming her fingers on the table, “Y’see…”

“ _I bit Arthur’s arm off with the demon still inside it_.”

The conversation screeches to a halt. Mystery calmly finishes off what was left of Joey’s food.

“Mystery, for _fuck’s sake_ \--”

“ _Well?! You were taking too darn long!_ ”

Eyes wide, you flail a little at Lewis for answers, too shocked to speak. Lewis gives you a ‘sorry, man’ sort of look, and whacks Vivi on the head with a wad of napkins.

“Babe, get on with it before Yugi runs away.”

“Well, it’s _Mystery’s_ fault!” she grouches, “ _Anyways_ , yes… Mystery bit Arthur’s arm clean off--”

“How?” you ask, incredulous, “He’s… he’s so tiny.”

“ _You are also tiny, but you have a stronger face hidden deep inside, do you not?_ ”

That shuts you up for a second. Lewis purses his lips like he’s trying not to laugh.

“Mystery you sound like an old fart when you talk that way.”

“ _Compared to you, I **am** an old fart, bub_.”

That actually gets a laugh out of the pharaoh.

“ _Anyways, darn it!_ As I was saying… Mystery bit his arm off because Mystery is a little weirdo who can transform into a bigger weirdo with sharper teeth. So he got rid of Arthur’s arm, ending the demon’s hold on him. So he’s at the top of the cliff bleeding and screaming and flailing--”

“-- _and getting blood all over my nice white fur_ \--”

“Shut your face, fuzzbutt! Meanwhile, I’m at the bottom of the cliff losing my mind because the cave gave Lewis god damn superpowers or something--”

“--which is why I can sit here solid like everyone else and not get caught--”

“Shush, you two! But yeah, he’s freaky powerful, and he erased my memory for a little while because I saw him get impaled on a stalagmite--”

This time, you _do_ end up choking on your cola. Vivi leaps to your rescue, thumping you on the back until you can (somewhat) breathe again.

“He… he was _impaled?_ ” you wheeze, “Oh my _god_ \--”

“Yeah, he was a Lew-kebab for a little while,” Vivi says, returning to her seat. “And, uhh… if you haven’t noticed, we like to make light of the situation. It’s our weird little way of coping, hope you don’t mind.”

You shake your head. Whatever helps!

“So… after the whole debacle, we got the hell out of there short one person.”

“ _And an arm_.”

“For the _love of_ \--yes, short an arm too. You little beast. Later Arthur built himself a prosthetic arm and we continued to go on ghost hunts. Shortly after, we found Lewis again, but that’s a whole other story we can regale you with later. I mean, if you want.”

You smile thinly. “Later. This is… a lot to take in. You guys have been through so much…”

An understatement, to be honest.

Lewis shrugs. “We’ve managed. It’s been a little rough, but we’re still here. Mostly.”

“ _And still risking life and limb--oh, my. I just realized how horribly accurate that statement is_.”

“Mystery, holy shit, you are a genius.”

“ _Yessss, praise me, O Blue Holder of Treats_.”

“Guys, Yugi’s waiting for you to get on with it,” Lewis laughs. You cast a sideways smile at the pharaoh, finding him grinning at the dark humor.

Some things never change, you suppose.

“Alright, alright, quit sidetracking me, you little turd,” Vivi says, and switches her attention back to you. “So. At the end of it all, I got my memories back, and now we’re mostly back to normal. But there are some key differences, obviously, as one moron is dead and the other has a robot arm and is now vulnerable to possessions. Well… it’s more likely to happen nowadays, I mean.”

 _That doesn’t seem safe in your line of work_ , the pharaoh says, eyebrows raised, _How do you protect him from possession when you actively seek the paranormal?_

“That’s what we’re here to talk to you guys about,” Lewis says, “See… I accidentally possessed him once, and I was stuck in his body for _hours_. But the thing is, we were at a severely haunted location at the time, and we noticed something. When _I’m_ in control of him, none of the other ghosts are able to jump in.”

Something clicks, and your jaw drops.

“That’s what you mean by consensual possession…!” you say, eyes wide, “You want to know how we do it… so that _you_ can do it?”

Vivi claps her hands in excitement. “Yes, yes, exactly!” she squeals, bouncing in her seat, “As soon as we realized what was going on with you, we just _had_ to meet you. You and your other self seem to have such a healthy relationship, something practically unheard of in the paranormal world--”

“ _And especially unheard of in this little group of ours_ \--”

“Quiet, you!” It’s Lewis hushing him this time. He grimaces at your narrowed eyes.

“What was that supposed to mean?” you demand. You do want to help, but _not_ if there’s toxicity in their group. You could never help someone possess another if the two won’t get along…!

“Yugi, I promise, Arthur and I get along just fine nowadays,” he reassures you, “It was tough at first, but… we’re still friends. The possession thing just freaked us out, you know? I was stuck in his body for _hours_ , man. We had no idea how to undo it. The only thing we could really think about was that we were stuck together, and that somehow he wasn’t being bothered by the other spirits.”

“Yugi,” Vivi reaches across the table and takes your hand. Her eyes plead with you. “We really, really need your help. If they can somehow learn to coexist in the same body during an investigation, it helps keep Arthur _safe_. Plus, it helps Lewis speak with other spirits that otherwise wouldn’t because of how big he is. Like, little kid spirits, right? Arthur is much smaller than Lewis. Timid spirits would feel safer around him for first time encounters, you know?”

“It hurts when the little ones run away,” Lewis mumbles, “I used to babysit. I have little sisters. I love kids, I really do. If this works out, I could help them, along with other uneasy spirits in need. That’s my goal.”

“That makes sense…” you agree, voice soft, “But…”

How do you tell her you’re not sure _how_ you and the pharaoh coexist so easily? Sure, you’re connected by the puzzle, but it was never a learning process to switch back and forth. It just sort of started happening, and it came so _naturally_ …

But you can’t exactly say no to Vivi when she looks so _hopeful_.

 _This is most likely the only lead they will ever get, Partner_ , the pharaoh says quietly, _Battle City is over now. While we do have a duty to perform… I believe it won’t hurt if we help these people, especially with such a goal in mind. We may not know exactly how to help, but perhaps we will find the answer along the way._

As he speaks, Lewis takes Vivi’s free hand in his own.

And you make up your mind.

“We’ll do it.”

As soon as the words leave your mouth, Vivi launches herself out of the booth and zooms over to you, throwing her arms around your neck.

“Oh, Yugi, thank you, thank you _so much_ , you have no _idea_ how much this means to us, to _me_ \--”

“Babe, I’m pretty sure he’s got a good idea!”

Instead of freezing like you do when other fan girls glomp you out of the blue, you awkwardly hug her back with a smile. Off to the side, you hear Mystery’s wheezing little laugh.

“ _Well, I believe that settles it_ ,” he says, “ _Now, Vivi, Lewis… I believe you owe Yugi a burger. I imagine his is quite cold now_.”

Vivi lets go of you and claps her hands over her mouth.

“Oh shit, that’s right, you guys were having lunch when I jumped over here! I’m so sorry, oh my gosh, hang on, I’ll buy you another one--”

You wave your hands and shake your head, laughing.

“It’s alright, it’s alright! I can buy another one, it’s no big deal. But, I’d like to call my friend back in here before we order any more food. He didn’t exactly get to finish his.”

“ _What a pity_.”

“Yeah, a real pity, ya little stinker!”

Joey has returned, a small icecream cone in hand. He glares at Mystery.

“I was so darn hungry I had to get a cone to hold me over for now,” he grouches. You reach over and poke him in the ribs like he did to you earlier.

“You wouldn’t be if you didn’t spend all your time scoping out these guys instead of eating your food,” you tease.

In retaliation, he smooshes the tip of his icecream into your cheek.

“Yeah, well, I could have come back to eat…” he says, “But I ran into a guy…”

“Lew, Vi?”

You notice another blond standing behind Joey, looking over his shoulder into your booth. Spiked blonde hair, massive eyebrows, a puffy orange vest…

_Partner, his arm!_

The metal shines under the fluorescent lights of the diner as the blonde-- _Arthur_ , you realize--moves a little ways to the side, scanning the booth with mild suspicion.

“So… uh. The other guy?” he asks, gaze flicking over you.

“He’s good, Art. You’re safe,” Lewis chuckles. Arthur immediately relaxes, and shoots you a winning smile.

“Ok, cool. Hi then, you’re Yugi, right? Vivi wouldn’t shut up about you on the flight over here--”

“ _Arthur_ , you friggin’ _snitch_ \--”

“What?! It’s true! Lewis is lucky he was invisible and could go hide in the bathroom to get away from your yakking--”

“ _Now, now, children. Play nice_.”

You stifle a giggle as Arthur sticks his tongue out at Vivi. She blows a raspberry in return.

“Well, now that we’re all here… why don’t we move to a larger booth and actually order you all some food?” Lewis says, “From the sound of it, you and Joey didn’t get to eat much, and Vivi was too darn excited to order anything when we got here.”

You beam. “Sounds good to me! …Er, Joey?”

You notice Joey hasn’t moved an inch, and then you realize he’s giving Lewis the side-eye of the century.

 _Oh, dear_ , the pharaoh says, hiding a smile, _Arthur must have told him…_

Lewis barks a laugh. “I can see that. Joey, relax,” he tells the rigid blonde, “I’m not gonna bite you.”

“ _I might_ ,” Mystery pipes up, baring his teeth in an obvious grin as you all move to vacate the table.

“Don’t worry,” Arthur tells a flabbergasted Joey, “I can always build you a new appendage.”

“Do I _wanna_ know why I’d need a whole new one? Never mind, I’ll ask later. I think. Yugi, what the hell did’ja just get us into, pal?”

You grin up at him.

“Mysteries later. Food now.”  


**Author's Note:**

> And there you have it! :U Small and AU-ish but super fun to write. <3


End file.
